Empathy
by fee-kh
Summary: Updated one chapter and removed the prologue. Flows a bit better now I think.
1. Best Laid Plans

Disclaimer: Nothing has changed. I still do not own Dark Angel. If I did I would try to resurrect it with Jensen on board. The rest can take a hike.

A/N: In this chapter we do not really get closer to the bad guy, so will not say too much, but I repeat this is dark and some of you are not going to like it.

Am listening to Gavin deGraw. Great Album - like the song 'Chariot' the best.

_Best Laid Plans_

It was getting worse, Alec mused, lost in thought.

Like every other night, Alec was beating Sketchy at pool. That was not however what was on his mind, although the statement was just as true in relation to Sketchy's pool skills. Alec did not need to keep his attention on the table to run it; Sketchy never stood a chance. Most of Alec's attention was focussed on the problem that was Max. She was sitting at their usual table with O.C., a frown marring her pretty face. Ever since getting out of Manticore three months before, her mood had deteriorated at a steady pace.

At first Alec had believed the bullshit she was spouting about how everything was his fault and she would be so much happier if he had never stumbled into her life, his fault she couldn't be with Logan and that it could all be laid at his door. After a couple of weeks of observing her, though he came to the conclusion that that was not the problem. May just used those excuses - for they were nothing more - to vent her feelings and if that was what she needed then Alec was more than happy to give it to her. At least until he found out what was really bothering her, there was only so much abuse a guy could take after all.

"Hey, you going to take that shot?" Alec started, realising that he had been drifting off into dreamland. He flashed his partner a grin and quickly ran the table, finally potting the black in the top left corner. His opponent could only stare in surprise. The ever hopeful Sketchy shrugged and said: "Oh well, maybe next time. Scotch?"

At Alec's nod he pushed his way to the bar leaving Alec to his thoughts. Going back to his original train of thought, Alec resumed dissecting Max's recent behaviour. In the last week he had noticed an interesting development; Max was actively seeking his company. He was convinced she was not thinking about what she was doing; he had also noticed that the time with him was the only time when she let her guard down and relaxed her strict control somewhat. A deeply disturbing aspect of this new trend was however that she was avoiding her closest friends. Max also seemed mortally afraid of touching anybody except him. And her best friend was beginning to notice.

Glancing over at their table, he saw her do it again. Fortunately Cindy was distracted by a rather buxom blonde at the next table. While flirting with her blonde, Cindy had leaned over the table to reach the bottle of tequila Max had been steadily drinking for the last hour. Cindy's arm had brushed Max's bare forearm. Max had withdrawn her limb so fast, Alec could have sworn she blurred. He watched as Max's face ran through a variety of emotions, from shock and embarrassment through rage to fear until her 'I don't give a shit' mask fell back into place. Alec did note that the stress lines on her face had deepened ever so slightly and that her hands were trembling as if she was having a seizure.

He decided to find a place where he could think. In Terminal City there were constant interruptions by transgenics asking for something or other - usually Mole for more cigars, that guy seriously smoked too much. He would borrow the Space Needle from Max.

'After all I am trying to help her, so it is only fair. Just hope she sees it the same way should she ever find out.'

Twenty minutes later he was comfortably seated, looking out over the maimed city. 'I would've loved to see this place before the pulse.' Alec mentally shook himself and admonished himself to get down to business. 'The problem that is Max.

'1. She avoids touching people - but not me.

'2. She gets tense in big crowds.

'3. She only relaxes when we're alone at my place or hers.

4. She is avoiding all her friends and knowing how fanatical she is about friends…' he left the thought unfinished, unwilling to go there.

'5. She works every free minute, driving herself to the brink again and again until she is worn to a thread and collapses.'

Now that Alec had sorted what he did know, he was even more worried than before.

'Now that I think about it, the whole business of organising the transgenic into a cohesive whole started after she started avoiding people. She also started shying away from ordinaries before she shied from transgens. Now she stays away from everybody if she can help it. Something is seriously wrong with her.

Thoroughly worried now, Alec decided to keep a close eye on her from now on. For some reason Max was teetering perilously on edge and he would be damned before he let her fall.

Two weeks later, Alec had to admit to himself that his constant surveillance was not helping. "I still don't much more than before. If this was a military task I would've failed and landed in isolation by now.' Alec was disgusted with himself. After all that time he was still no closer to the answer than before. Except for one thing, Max was avoiding him now as well. 'I need to do something. Whatever it is, is eating at her until it has her from the inside. She's slipping from my grasp and there is nothing I can do. I've watched her - no intel. I've tried talking to her and all I get is soldier-face Max telling me to butt out and smacking me for my troubles, before stalking off.'

Leaning further back in his chair, Alec watched the proceedings around him with narrowed eyes. Max was chairing a meeting with reps from all the units to decide what was needed and how to get it. 'How to get it was the easy part of course,' Alec thought. 'five-letter word starting with h and ending in eist.' Looking across the table he reflected that she was Stonewall Max today. Not a flicker of emotion marred her face, but her eyes, ever the window of her soul, betrayed her tension. The longer the meeting took, the more panic they showed.

'Mole is noticing it too. He's got that look on his face when he thinks he can trick someone into giving more than they want. Better wrap this up quick before he tries to exploit her weakness.'

Rapping on the table with his knuckles he made use of the brief silence in proceedings. "I think we all know what needs to be done. I suggest you pass your shopping lists to me and I will start assigning teams to get the stuff." Flashing his best smile at the assembled group, he had the meeting wrapped up in seconds and the members out the door in minutes. With satisfaction he watched Max let her mask slip and sag into her chair in relief. 'This time I will not take no for an answer. She will answer my questions if I have to bind and gag her to do it.'

Clearing his throat he addressed the only person he considered a true friend: "Max, we need to …"

The door slamming open interrupted his speech and he could only watch in disgust as Logan stormed into the room, beaming from ear to ear.

Alec did his best to head him off. "Look, Logan now is not the best time." As ever Logan just ignored him and made his way over to Max, where he went down on one knee next her chair. His aspirations to high romance were somewhat spoiled however by the whirring of his exoskeleton and the stiltedness of his movements.

'Fuck, what is he doing? Is he going to propose to her or what does he think he is doing.' With morbid fascination Alec watched Max shrink away from Logan and make herself as small as possible.

'That's just not right. Max is the strongest person I know. Why is she letting him intimidate her that way? Look at the prick, he doesn't even notice. I'm stopping this right now.'

Before anyone could do anything, Logan pulled out a syringe and injected the neon green contents into Max's arm. As Max stared stupidly at the tiny drop of blood blooming on her skin, Logan started babbling, the words freezing not only him in his tracks.

"Max. I've found the cure to the virus. In the end it was really easy. I found a doctor." Oblivious to anything but the sound of his own voice, Logan completely ignored Max's frozen features, reached out and laid his hand on her bare arm.

As if in slow motion, Alec watched Max's eyes move down to stare at her arm and Logan's hand. A split second later she looked as if somebody had punched her in the stomach, as a great gasp of air escaped her lips.

'Any other time I would find the look on her face amusing. Why isn't she saying anything?' Alec thought, then shook himself out of his stupor and walked up to them.


	2. Serpent in Eden

Disclaimer: Nope still not mine.

A/N: The cat comes out of the bag in this chapter. If you hate the idea I suggest you jump ship round about line 14. It only gets worse.

I am not too utd (up to date - bad sign when you can't read your own acronyms like me just now) as to which transgenic is which, so Dex is also medic to an extent, which is either from another story, I'm thinking 'Hot Sweat Heat' (my favourite story ever) or from the series.

_Serpent in Eden_

Nausea hit him so hard and fast, Alec sank to the floor gagging helplessly. The only reason why his breakfast didn't make a return appearance was because he hadn't had any. Dex was not so lucky, retching miserably into the waste paper basket by his table. Only Logan seemed unaffected, babbling away at Max. who was still staring at the hand on her arm as if she had no frame of reference for it even being there.

With rising concern, Alec blurred to Max's side. 'She's going into shock - her pupils have dilated so much I can't even see her iris.'

"Logan, get away from her." Just then Max jerked as if she had been stabbed and screamed, such despairing screams they tore into Alec's heart. It sounded as if something was ripping her apart from the inside.

Grabbing Logan by the shoulders, Alec dragged him away from her, propelling him right into Mole's waiting arms.

Moving carefully, Alec picked Max up and settled into the chair she had occupied alone moments before, arranging her tenderly in his lap. She immediately turned her face into his shoulder, muffling her continuous screams. Now, however he could make out words. "Zach! No, don't hurt him. Leave him alone, Logan. Zach!" Abruptly she went limp in his arms. A quick glance at Logan showed he had gone pale with guilt at the mention of Zach.

"What did you do to Zach, Logan?"

"I don't know what you are talking about. I have not seen Zack since they invaded Manticore. Now please unhand me and I will go." Up until that moment Alec had not truly realised what a pompous ass Logan really was.

"You're not going anywhere. Mole take care of it." Alec was half expecting the man to balk his order and was pleasantly surprised when the lizard man instead said: "Say no more. It is my pleasure. Never liked him anyway." With that, Mole spun the unresisting Logan around and delivered a picture-prefect upper cut to the man's jaw, sending him to the floor like a stone. "I've been wanting to do that for a long time, insufferable ordinary." For good measure Dex kicked the fallen man in the ribs on his way over to check on Max. After a sharp look at the syringe lying abandoned on the floor and It took him only moments to reach a verdict.

"She's gone into shock and fainted from the stress of whatever this prick did to her. Take her somewhere quiet, Alec. Best thing would be your digs here. She needs constant surveillance. Should wake up in an hour or so, when her system has managed to work through the problem. But until then she needs somebody to be there for her to make sure she doesn't go into convulsions and hurts herself. I'll come by asap to give her a Tryptophan injection just in case."

"No problem. Thanks Dex. One thing though. Organise a team of x-5s and tell Biggs and Cece to take them to Logan's apartment. I want them to take that place apart and not come back until they find some kind of information about what he did to Max, Zack and anything else they might find. When they're done, they strip the place of anything we might need - then torch it." Alec's eyes were hard as granite as he rattled off the instructions. "Nobody does this to one of ours and gets away with it. When Biggs is done, he comes back and reports to me."

Dix sketched a quick salute. "Consider it done, sir." He did an about-face and marched out the door, leaving behind a slightly confused Alec. "What was that about?" Mole looked at him as if he had grown an extra head or lost it. "Alec. You're the highest ranking officer in this entire shebang. Most followed Max in the beginning because you did. It's reassuring to see you take control. Especially with what this moron did to her. She'll be in no shape to help in any way for a long while. So get on with it. Be the man you were in Manticore and the man you've become since then. Playtime is over." With that Mole grabbed Logan by a foot and dragged him out the door. Alec was left behind, gob smacked at the lizard's unexpected eloquence. 'So they want me to take over. Fine. Max will probably have something to say about that when she wakes up again though, but nothing I can't take.' Worriedly he glanced down at the precious burden in his arms, sighed and rearranging her slightly to make her more comfortable, left Central to head over to his apartment. It would turn into a true running of the gauntlet. Every single transgenic they met on the way, paused them to ask what he felt were unnecessary questions. Eventually he ordered two of them to clear the way for him.

The short distance took half an hour to get across and he was beyond relieved when he finally had her tucked up in his bed, making her as comfortable as possible. News must have gotten round, because the number of females coming to his door with offers of help, food and blankets had been astonishing.

'Max would be pleased. I don't think she knows how much these people have come to rely on her. Don't know why those males had to come by. Useless bunch of louts.'

A whimper from the bed had him flying to her side. "Max, you're waking up." Sadly this was a misconception. Alec stared down at the still sleeping Max. She had evidently come out of her faint, but still had not found her way back to consciousness.

"Ben, I can't carry you."

'What was that?' Carefully Alec sat down on the edge of the bed.

"Ben. I can't. … Lydecker's coming."

"Max. It's okay. There's nobody here but me." Tenderly Alec brushed away the strand of hair sticking to her forehead. Alec kept on talking: "It's safe. Lydecker is not here. I'll take care of you. Nobody is going to get you. I wont let them." All the while he continued to stroke her hair, hoping the contact would soothe her.

"Ben. I can't carry you. They're coming. Ben! You have to help me. Ben, please." For a brief moment, Alec thought she would wake. She was thrashing around, her hands patting the air in front of her body as if holding something.

'She thinks she's holding Ben.' Alec ruthlessly suppressed a flash of something. He bent closer as she started muttering again.

"Ben, he wont get you. I promise. Ben, tell me about the good place." The pain in her voice was driving Alec to tears and he almost missed the odd movement she made in thin air, before collapsing back into her prior comatose state.

'Fuck. That looked like she broke his neck.' Getting into a more comfortable position, Alec began to put the clues together. 'So Max and Ben, had to be a transgenic or Lydecker wouldn't have been after them, were running. Something happens and Ben can't go on. Max can't help, either he's too heavy or she's hurt too. Lydecker comes closer, Max distracts Ben and snaps his neck.' His face fell as the implications struck.

"Oh, Maxie. I'm so sorry. I wish I'd been there. I could have helped." Helplessly he stared down at her. "I wish you would wake up."

Dex came out of Alec's bedroom, exhausted and so far beyond worried he felt they would have to try and find a new name for it.

"So, what's the verdict?" Alec asked, pouncing on him the moment Dex set foot beyond the threshold.

"I don't know. There is nothing physically wrong with her."

"What?" Alec's voice rang with frustration?

"It's true. I have run every test know to man and a few I came up with myself. Her vital signs are okay, though not as good as I would like, motor responses are fine. There is no reason for her to be unconscious for this long, especially considering her genetic makeup. And yet there she is, fast asleep, almost coma-like."

Alec sighed. "Please give me something, anything."

"You're not going to like it." He decided to graciously ignore Alec's raised eyebrows, knowing that when it came to Max there was nothing Alec wouldn't't do, but this, what he was going to advise next, might be too much for even him to stomach. "My official verdict is that there is nothing medically wrong with her; the problem probably lies in her psyche. Something is keeping her from waking up, she is keeping herself from waking up, willing herself away. And I have no idea what it is. If I did I might be able to work around it."

Alec frowned. "So you're saying Max has some feelings or thoughts that are stopping her from waking up. And you don't know so can't do anything. What are you saying? Let's go and have a look inside Max's head?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying."

It only took Alec a moment to figure out what Dex was referring to.

"NO! No way. You are not saying what I think you're saying. You don't know what it was like." Alec ran his hands through his hair in frustration, goose bumps playing along his arms as he thought back to the secret terror of Manticore. "They messed with your mind. Went in and shuffled everything about, seeing what your innermost thoughts were and playing with it, like they were God or something. Till you didn't know if what you were feeling were things you felt or things they had left there for you to find." He started pacing, emotions getting the better of him. "Those people were the nightmare the guards threatened us with. Ordinaries have things that go bump in the night. Well, we met our monsters, inside our heads and that is a hell of a lot worse than having them under your bed." Taking a deep breath, Alec managed to school is face into a neutral, implacable expression. "I am not handing Max over to psy-ops and that's final."


	3. Losing Ground

Disclaimer: Nope, still not mine.

A/N: This is a bit of an experiment. The whole fic is, to be honest. I am thinking of leaving off the prologue and if you think this chapter changes the pace too much, please let me know.

_Losing Ground_

The cold air bit into her throat, making it hard to breath, each panting breath so cold, she felt it would eat into her and finally freeze her heart, shattering her into a thousand small pieces, too small to be found. Spreading her over the snow and ice, blending her with the trees and the wind.

Mac felt reduced to her basic instincts. Fight or flight.

Fighting was not an option.

Her shift flapped in the wind of her own passing, the frozen edges a whip to her tender legs, hardened from countless hours of drill.

FASTER

Her eyes burned with never-shed tears. A soldier does nor cry.

She ran on, straining to hear the sounds of the pursuers she knew were there. She wouldn't go back, to go back was certain death. Her feet slid from under her, sending her headfirst into the ice of a frozen river.

It would be so easy to just lie there and let them find her. She was so cold.

FAILURE IS NOT AN OPTION

The words whipped her into action, conditioning taking over from a numb mind and forcing the body to move. Tremulously she got to her feet and began crossing the waterway.

An ominous rumbling destroyed the perceived safety of her footing and she fell a second time. The water closed over her head as the river heaved around her, shedding its burden of ice.

Hands scrabbled at the ice flow above her head, freezing solid once again now that its victim had been captured. Icy fingers rose from the depths, dragging her down, down away from the light, down into the depths of blackness.

Silence reigned by the wintery river, sparkling in the sunlight, ice unblemished with no cracks to mar the surface.

* * *

FASTER!

FASTER!

Blood pounded through her veins. She had to find him before they did.

Her prey was only perceived as glimpses in the distance, flashes of skin, brief visions of fair hair.

FASTER!

* * *

"You have failed me!"

A shot rings out.

Eva's body falls and falls and falls, endlessly into the darkness.

* * *

"Have a drink with me."

"Where am I?"

"In hell."

* * *

She was getting closer. Her prey was now more than flashes in the distance. Slowing to a jog, the huntress watched as her prey came to a stop in a clearing in the middle of the forest and turned to face her, a charming grin shining on his face.

The dance was stunning. Huntress and prey were evenly matched, throwing each other across the earth of the forest, revelling in the feel of heat and sweat, exertion and accomplishment. Both figures were panting slightly, faces glistening, bodies warmed by the web of destruction they were weaving. Finally the prey faltered and the huntress pounced, battle over in a second.

The prey lay on the ground, movement impossible with two broken legs. Looking up at her, it spoke, even as the huntress' head whipped up, for the first time perceiving the sounds of another hunt, this one for them both.

"Max?"

The huntress faltered, disappearing into the depths of the persona that was Max.

"Ben. We have to go."

The fight had been too brutal, prey would not walk again.

"Ben, I can't carry you.

Lydecker's coming."

Prey stared up at her in infinite trust, recalling times when the huntress had shared his cot and asked for stories. The youngest of their pack, she had held him when the dreams got too much. He had been lost without her.

"Ben. I can't carry you! You have to help me. Ben, please."

Prey tried, really did, but it was not enough. In the distance the drone of a helicopter took shape, darkness crawling from the edges of the forest, plucking at her with wispy fingers.

The huntress looked down at prey and saw the truth. Prey would not walk again, she had been too good. Gracefully she moved to sink down beside him and pulled him into her lap, softly stroking the pain from his brow as she made her last request.

"Ben, I'll protect you." Utter trust was written on his face, shining now with the belief in - her.

"Close your eyes. Tell me about the good place." As he began spinning the old fantasy, the huntress adjusted her grip and sent him onto the next world.

* * *

FASTER

She had to run faster. They were catching up-

It's so cold.

The wind tore through the trees, slashing branches into her eyes; clawing her clothes.

She felt so frozen - afraid a sudden movement would shatter her.

STRENGTH

HONOUR

DISCIPLINE

The words appeared in letters of fire, scalding her frozen flesh, burning away clothing, skin and flesh, exposing the structure underneath, the fault lines of her soul.

* * *

A soundless scream tears through the forest, reverberating off icicles, bouncing from the clouds in the sky, echoing in the valley until it became a cacophony of sound with no clear origin, consciousness of the forest given voice.

* * *

Silence, oppressing all encompassing silence, pressing in on her skin with velvet fingers. Cotton wool filled her ears, mouth and nose.

"You are nothing."

The voice was everywhere and nowhere.

The girl clapped her hands over her ears to no avail.

"You are nothing to us."

"You deserve to suffer."

"Yes."


	4. Loss of Innocence

Disclaimer: I do not own DA. If I did there would have been more blue towels and the shower - I mean the show would still be running.

A/N: Okay, last chapter was supposed to show what's going on in Max's head, to an extent. The first draft was very different and much worse - but couldn't stomach it. Incidentally, this is not pretty, the title is par for the course. I have been thinking that the fic would work better without the prologue. Let me know what you think.

Oh and this () means flashback. Only one I need, I promise, just couldn't fit it in any other way.

_Loss of innocence_

A long time later, Alec rubbed his tired eyes, trying to get the grittiness from them. Blearily he looked around his apartment and realised that at some time while he was guarding Max's sleep, dusk had fallen.

A quiet knock alerted him to visitors.

Staring down at Max, lying in his bed as if merely sleeping, Alec couldn't help but think that the peace was fleeting at best.

'At least she hasn't had another episode.'

Another sounded through the apartment, and kept repeating, forcing him to his feet and into the lounge.

"Yeah, I'm coming. Keep your shirt on." He ripped open the door and a wave of frustration, anger and sorrow hit him straight in the chest, causing his eyes to sting and blur. Blinking furiously, he focussed on Biggs and Cece.

'Biggs is furious, I can smell it and Cece looks like she's been crying.'

Biggs was the first to break the silence. "We've come for debriefing, Alec."

Wordlessly Alec stepped aside, closing the door behind them. Together they made their way to the kitchen nook, Cece slumping into a chair as soon as possible. Alec raised an eyebrow. Something had really gotten to her at Logan's place and he had the feeling he was really not going to like whatever it was. 'I'm going to kill that bastard. First max and now Cece.'

"We made it into the flat no problem. That place has got about as much security as a gumball machine. We spread out. Cece and I took the office. My girl cracked the system in less than a minute." A wry grin flitted over Alec's face, echoed on Biggs'.

"John and Jane took the bedroom and the bathroom. They found the first stash." Biggs looked slightly ill at this point and obviously struggled for words. "They found pictures." He stopped again, now not only looking disgusted, but furious as well.

"Pictures of what?" Alec prompted, already knowing but needing the confirmation.

"Of Max, Alec!" Cece burst out. "Hoverdrone pictures, surveillance cams and real photos, professional like. On most of them she's in heat, with random guys. Sorry, please excuse me…" She trailed off, rushing to the bathroom, seconds later Biggs and Alec shared a grim look as they heard the unmistakable sounds of her throwing up.

Rage blinded him and Alec had to ruthlessly battle it down, force it into a box and close the door on it. He would let it all out later. After Max was back. Later.

"There's more isn't there?"

"Yeah." Biggs dragged a tired hand over his face. "Cece and I found the rest. That dumb prick kept hardcopy files of everything he has ever done as Eyes Only and a couple of other less legal activates and we found his diary behind a painting in the office. Cece cracked the safe in seconds. We brought everything. Some transgenics are going to be enjoying a lovely bottle of wine tonight. Pre-pulse of course." He smiled wryly. "I flicked through the last couple of entries in the diary. That man wrote down everything I'm telling you." Biggs stopped, unsure how to continue.

"Well, go on. You wouldn't have mentioned it if you hadn't found something. So spill."

Biggs dragged a restless hand through his hair. "I heard about what Max said before she fainted in Command. You know what everybody here is like. Talk about grapevine, more like an entire vineyard. Anyway, I heard about her calling out about Zach. Thing is, she's right. Logan mentioned Zach coming to him yesterday morning. In a bad shape, otherwise he would never have let his guard down enough to let Logan tranq him. Then that bastard phoned an e-Manticore lab tech, who was only too happy to deal with the pesky virus in return for a maimed transgenic. Probably wants to gain Brownie points with whoever is his new boss."

Alec's jaw dropped. Of everything he had heard, this was the most shocking news. Despite his dislike of the man, Max had always trusted Logan and to a certain extent so had he. Logan had helped them in the past when they needed it, although as often as not he had been the cause of the trouble in the first place. But Alec had never thought Logan could be ruthless enough to sell out one of Max's brothers just to have his own way! It smacked of a level of calculation Alec had never thought him capable of. Did Logan honestly think that Max would never find out. Alec checked himself, the plan was almost foolproof. There was no reason to believe that Zach would ever come back, Max had told them all the story about how Zach had sacrificed himself to give her a new heart. For all intents and purposes, Max's brother was dead. Logan couldn't have counted on Max having the kind of reaction to his news that she had had, somehow just knowing something was wrong with Zach.

"I anticipated your orders on this one, Alec." Biggs' voice brought him back to the present. "I've scrambled two teams to retrieve Zach from his last known location. The tech can't have had a lot of time to send him on. And even if he has the teams have orders to pursue until they do find him."

"No prisoners!" Alec added, harshly.

"No prisoners." Biggs nodded. "The thing that gets to me though. The whole thing with Zach started yesterday and ended this morning when Logan handed him over." He trailed off unwilling to put into words what they were both thinking. Alec did it for him.

"How did she know?"

* * *

Alec paced back and forth, A quick glance at his bed showed Max still lost in dreamland. She was fitfully opening and closing her fists, her forehead wrinkled.

'She hasn't woken up in thirty-six hours, not even when we brought Zach in here.' Alec reflected. 'I never thought I'd see an X-5 brought down so low. He was so happy to see Max alive and so sad when she just didn't respond.' Not responding was an understatement. After only a couple of seconds of Zach sitting by her bed, Max had gone into convulsions, whimpering fretfully, weakly thrashing around. Zach had almost cried when he saw that and left immediately, to be taken to the infirmary. It had taken Alec a long time to calm her down.

"Fuck! I hate seeing her this weak and I can't do anything. She's had four more episodes since Zach left and we are no closer to waking her up than before. At least one thing seems to calm her down. I never would have thought she would welcome me into her bed.'

* * *

() 

Alec started awake. All seemed quiet.

"No! Not Seth!"

'Damn, another one.' Alec quickly stood up from his chair beside the bed. Moving to her side, he dropped down on one knee, stroking her hair from her sweaty face.

"Ssshhh, Maxie, everything's going to be okay." She was really starting to thrash around now.

'I hope she doesn't misunderstand this, when she wakes up.' he thought, pulling off his shoes and shirt.

'She needs to feel safe.'

Quickly he slid into bed beside her, one hand holding both of hers, his leg thrown over both of her to stop her moving around so much. Several long minutes later, Max moved ever so slightly, aligning her body with his and taking a deep breath fell back into unconsciousness.

* * *

Alec flopped down into an armchair by the window, pulling at his hair in frustration, searching for any solution. At this point the was so worried he would have gladly called Lydecker if there was a chance he could help Max. Dex was still trying to persuade him to call in the psy-ops people, who had presumably snuck into Terminal City at some point. Although he understood why nobody had told him or Max, he was not happy. Psy-ops could not be trusted. After the Simon thing, he had held on to the memory of Rachel through reindoctrination and torture, solitary and the tank. Nothing had been able to wrest the image of her from him, until Sally. Sally had waltzed into his cell one day, cute as a button. She had been wearing a little yellow pinafore dress for crying out loud. Not to mention the bright red lollypop she was holding tightly in one pudgy little hand. After another episode in the tank, Alec had been unable to do anything more than raise his eyebrow inquisitively. Sally had smiled at him and said: "Mama Renfrew says you've been bad." Then he had known no more, forgotten Rachel as if she had never been, until the day Max had dragged him back to the scene of the crime and all the memories that came with it.

There was no way Alec would let one of those monsters in disguise come anywhere near his Max. The price would be too high, too high for anyone of them to pay.

Gradually another presence impinged on his consciousness. Turning to the door, he was unsurprised to see Biggs leaning against the frame - looking sheepish and worried.

"What's up Biggs?"

There was something disturbingly comical about a transgenic shuffling his feet like a three-year old caught with his hand in the cookie jar. "Promise not to bite my head off."

"Biggs! What a half-assed thing to say. Are you three or something. You know full well that if you start spouting stuff like that I just know you've done something I am not going to like."

"Well, I know you don't like them - hate them really. And I can't blame you. After what they did to you,. I mean I would probably feel the same. I found them a week a go. By accident, totally. I mean they're pretty good at hiding. I didn't tell you. Well, first because I knew you'd be pissed and then there was Max and the mission to get Zack - it was just never the time."

"You're babbling." Alec stated. "Why does that strike me as not good?"

"Because I know that you really, really don't like these guys - but they're okay. They've been here two months and no trouble."

Alec remained confused. "Why would I mind. Unless…" Biggs shrugged and Alec exploded. "PSY-OPS! You brought fucking psy-ops into my city." Ruthlessly he reigned in his anger, reminding himself that Max needed him. "You let psy-ops into this place - after all they did to us?"

"HEY! I didn't let anything. They came here by themselves, no me involved. And they're not really psy-ops. They were in the post-traumatic stress department. Well, one of them was - the others are different."

"There's more than one?" Alec stated flatly.

Biggs shrugged, failing miserably at the smile. "Three I've met. Another two I know of. Thalia came to me the other day. Said she can help. I'm inclined to believe her."

"Well, you would, wouldn't you?" Alec interjected sarcastically. "That's the joy of psy-ops."

"All I'm saying is maybe you should talk to her. She is very nice - And before you say anything I know that she could make me feel that way. But I have never seen her with the psy-ops people. Think about it. Nothing Dex does is bringing Max any closer to waking up and we have to run an IV twice a day just to make sure she doesn't die. Think about it, okay. That's all I'm asking. The choice is yours."

As he turned to leave, Biggs glanced back one last time. "But think of this as well. We both know that if you don't do everything to help her, you will never forgive yourself."

He shrugged and left, leaving Alec to stew in his thoughts.

"Damn, damn, damn, damn, damn. What am I going to do?"

* * *

Restlessly Alec paced the length of his apartment, pausing in the door to his bedroom on every round to see if Max's condition had changed.

152 and a half rounds later, he was still no closer to reaching a decision. Psy-ops were not to be trusted. Whether they called themselves that or not. They had ways of taking everything you were and leaving nothing.

Sighing he sat back down in the chair beside his bed, string down at the occupant. Reaching out slowly, he took one of her limp hands in his, stroking the backs with his thumbs, following the lines of her face with his eyes. Worried when she frowned. Relieved when the lines smoothed. Fretting when she fretted. Resting when she did.

"C'mon Maxie. Wake up. I thought you had shark DNA. Always saying how you don't need more than three hours sleep. I'd say you've more than made up for that now."

Still no response and Alec's flippancy faded as if it had never been, leaving behind the more serious persona that had established itself in the last couple of days.

"Maxie, it's time you wake up. Mole's head is getting to big for his shoulders. He wont fit through doors soon. The transgenics need you and I probably need a good ass-kicking." His winsome smile faded as Max still showed no response.

Frustration briefly gained the upper hand, causing green eyes to flash with annoyance.

"Enough. Max. Wake up. We need you. Stop sleeping and wake up, damn it."

Gently Alec reached out and tucked an errant strand of hair back behind her ear, continuing the movement to stroke her face.

"Please come back. We miss you."

"I miss you."


	5. Enter the Dragonet

Disclaimer: I do not own Dark Angel, more's the pity. I really, really wish it were different. As it is I indulge my fantasy here and leave real life to others.

A/N: I hope you are enjoying yourselves so far. This is the first tale I ever made a plan for, but there are so many hints that it's the only way I can keep it all straight. I have taken some aspects from the chronicles of Valdemar for this one. Mostly the names and how the gifts work. I suppose that qualifies this as a crossover then.

_Enter the Dragonet_

Forty-eight interminable hours had passed since Logan had effectively incapacitated the leaders of Terminal City. In the absence of Max and Alec he running of the city lay in the hands of Mole, Biggs and Cece. So far, nobody had barged down the door of Alec's apartment complaining.

Alec counted this as a minor silver lining on the thunderstorm that was his life. Max was closer to waking up than she was to joining a rock band.

He hated looking at her lying in there in his bed, skin gone so translucent, eyes sunken, fading away under his gaze. Arms laid out on the bedspread, the marks from frequent injections and IV's clearly visible. Seeing her so vulnerable made him want to throw back his head and howl at the injustice of it all. It wasn't right. How could one little _ordinary_ man bring down what was supposed to be a superhuman soldier. It defied belief. 'I thought we're supposed to be stronger, better and faster. How did he manage to bring us down so low.'

"Alec?"

His head whipped around and looked at Max, heart hammering almost painfully against his ribcage.

"Alec?"

Then it finally registered that the voice he had heard was far deeper than Max's. Octaves deeper, with a hint of gravel you only got from a lot of smoking and whiskey. Tiredly Alec realised that Mole had spoken, apparently he had been wrong about there not being any problems needing his decisions. Clustered around Mole were several of the almost fey transgenic, designated X-7s. These children had been one of the most feared weapons created at Manticore, loyal only to their superiors and group. Alec had believed them to have gone down when the facility burned, believing them too loyal to Renfrew. Apparently he had been wrong, for small groups of them, never less than five, had drifted into TC from wherever they had been hiding. And behind them with an almost serious look on his face, Biggs.

With an irritated flick, Mole removed the cigar from his mouth. "We have a problem."

Alec sighed. "Another one?"

"Yeah, let me introduce you to some of the more retiring members of our happy little holiday camp." Pointing at the young boy who was slightly taller than the others, he continued. "This is X7-111. You could say he is their leader. Two days ago -" he gave Alec a significant look. "-these guys all dropped whatever they were doing and fled to the den they call home. They refused to budge until half an hour ago when this lot walked out, came to Central and started pulling at my shirttails until I agreed to go with them. I feel like a flipping kindergarten teacher."

"Well, what do they want?" Alec was impatient to get back to Max.

"Well, that's the problem. They don't -"

"Sir." A very rusty voice interrupted him.

"-talk." Mole finished, as both he and Alec stared at the X7.

"Beg to differ, sir. We do talk. We just hardly ever do because it is unnecessary. Usually anyway."

"Why, now?" Alec asked.

"She calls to us." The X7 baldly stated.

"Who?"

"The leader's own. She calls to us. Then she was gone. When her touch returned it echoed much stronger, pain and despair in every note. It was very disorientating. We had to recover. Then we came to her."

"You mean Max. But she's the leader." Mole stated.

"No, she's the leader's own. He is the leader." X7-111 pointed at Alec.

"Who me? No, ridiculous."

Biggs looked thoughtful. "Not really, when you think about it. You are the best of the bestest."

"The bestest? Is that even a word?"

"Ahem." The X-7 clearing his throat brought all attention back to him. "The Leader's own is lost. In her mind. We can sense her, but we can not reach her."

"What do you mean you can't reach her? She's right over there." Biggs gestured towards the bedroom door.

Alec sighed tiredly, wishing with every fibre in his body, Max were there to take some of the burden off his shoulders. It would be so much easier with her around. She grounded him.

"I know what he means. Dismissed, soldier." Snapping off a picture perfect salute, X7-111 turned and left the apartment the others falling in line behind him.

Mole snorted. "You know what he means. Sneaky little buggers. Always appear out of thin air. Never around when you need them. So, tell what does it mean?"

"It means I'm going to talk to Thalia. Just her, none of the others.

* * *

In preparation for Thalia's arrival, Alec had a shower and several cups of strong coffee. If he was going to meet this female then he wanted to be at his best. Psy-ops had the tendency to exploit any weakness they could sense.

Just when he believed he could not get any tenser, there was a knock at the door, heralding the arrival of the person who might be Max's last chance.

"Come in."

As stealthily as possible Alec positioned himself so he stood between the door to his bedroom and anybody who came in the entrance. The door slowly opened and one of the smallest women he had ever seen walked in.

A petite frame was clothed in oranges and yellows, instantly bringing sun into the room. A heart shaped face was crowned by brown curls with just the barest hint of red in them. Brown eyes twinkled at him. All in all his visitor radiated harmlessness and good will.

"Okay, tune down the floor show."

The woman flushed, a rueful smile playing in her lips. "I'm sorry. I just really needed you to not jump down my throat when I came in. When that happens I tend to project without meaning to." The feelings suffusing his flat dimmed somewhat, although she still appeared harmless.

"Better?"

"I take it you're Thalia."

"That would be me, sir." She bowed slightly, causing Alec's eyebrow to rise somewhat.

"What's with the sir. Far as I know, you never call anyone sir. Last time I heard it was Mama Renfrew." He couldn't quite keep the bitterness out of his voice.

"It's sir because you are the leader of us here and it shows respect." Thalia smiled at him, clearly unfazed by his latent hostility. "Why don't I tell you about my group, seeing as we snuck into your area without asking for permission."

"Would it have made a difference?" Alec wanted to know, curious despite himself. It was hard to distrust Thalia.

Thalia laughed. "Not really. We would have probably come anyway. But there was a very good reason. She called to us."

"Not another one. You mean Max, I presume. How exactly was she calling for you. As far as I know she wasn't standing on the Space Needle every night with a megaphone."

Alec's bald statement caused Thalia to giggle. "Hardly. We were almost in Florida when we first felt it. Megaphones only go so far. But, before I explain that, I have to explain a bit about us and some things you don't know about your X-series and the other series. Then I will try and explain Max."

"Go right ahead." Alec, still wary, led the way to the sofa, gesturing Thalia to take a seat there and plopping down on the armchair next to it.

"I don't know how much you know about the genetic manipulations, so I'll start at the beginning. Some of this you know, other stuff you don't." Thalia half-smiled at him, then began her speech.

"As you know, Manticore was big on meddling with the human genome in the attempt to create the perfect super soldier. I heard that before they started mixing in the animal genes, they were trying to figure out which genes were responsible for what? What happens when some are artificially switched off or on. A lot went wrong, major malforming was often the result, along with freak illnesses no-one could cure showing up years later. You might have heard of one of their failures. Testing on cows was quite advanced in the late twentieth century. I think they wanted to improve productivity. It went haywire. The test objects were slaughtered and fed back into the food chain. The result was a major BSE epidemic."

Alec nodded. This he had heard about, although not Manticore's involvement. Thalia smiled and continued: "They mixed human and animal genes to make the basic structure strong enough to endure the changes they wished to make. The X-5's were the first batch of all-rounders to make it. Superior strength, senses, not to mention looks and latent psychic ability. At this point after all Manticore was still not sure which genetic markers it was safe to switch off. That's why there are no X-1s to 4s. Didn't make it. Too unstable. Physically and mentally." Thalia stopped for a moment, clearly unhappy.

"Later of course, the Manticore scientists got better. Started creating the specialists, for example Mole and his kind, or the fish people. All very useful in war fare. And us, the psychics. Manticore managed to crack what thousands of scientists have tried to do in the last few hundred years. Not only find proof that psychic abilities exist, but that they can also be used profitably."

"Yeah, for example to mess with our minds." Alec interjected, bile rising in his throat.

Thalia didn't comment, knowing that to respond would bring this conversation to a screeching halt. And she had to get to Max, their survival depended on it.

"Most of us psychics have no intrinsic value at the front, however we make excellent backup personnel and spies of course. Some of us, for example me, were stationed in hospitals on base. Normal soldiers suffering from trauma and bad memories were brought to us to heal. That's all we did. We thought it was a good thing. Some of those men were really suffering." Thalia glanced at Alec's disbelieving face and wondered if she should say what was on her mind, then decided what the hell. "You have to believe me. I did not now, I was anything other than human until Manticore was blown up."

Alec scoffed at her. "Come on. You actually expect me to believe that? What do you think I am? Five?"

Thalia sighed. "I know it is very hard to believe. If I were in your position I probably wouldn't believe me either. But it is true. And I can give you some of the reasoning. We are weak" She noticed Alec's expression. "Physically weak, is what I am saying. Yes, Manticore managed to turn on almost all psychic abilities, but it came with a price, physical and sometimes mental weakness. They realised this early on, but we are too valuable. Some of us made excellent spies."

"Not surprising, considering you guys just waltz in where you are not wanted and snoop around."

"Quite true. I'm not saying I am proud of what some of us have done, but we did not know any better."

"And that makes it okay?" Whatever Thalia thought she was trying to tell him, Alec was having none of it. "Going in and messing with our minds, leaving behind nothing but pain and suffering. Only a soldier standing in a field of corpses. And you thought you were doing nothing wrong?" He jumped up and paced the room, anger and sheer power rolling off him in waves. Thalia shrank into her seat and gulped.

"Could you turn down the floor show?" She asked, causing Alec to stop in his tracks, ripped out of the circle his thoughts had been falling into. Just as he was about to snap at his guest, a whimper from the bedroom had him flying in there.

Max was thrashing on the bed, tears streaming down her face. Without thinking twice, Alec scrambled in beside her, and, pulling her into his lap, whispered into her ear and stroked her hair.

"Sshh, it's okay. I'm here. Maxie, it's okay. I'm here." Soothing her had the effect of soothing him. Alec could feel his heartbeat slow down and his emotions calm. From the corner of his eye he saw Thalia standing in the door of his bedroom.

"Stay away from her." He snapped, moving Max so she lay behind him. "I'll be right out. Make yourself comfortable. I'm sure that will not be a problem for you." Ignoring her he turned back to Max.

* * *

Thalia was getting bored and antsy. The emotions rolling from the bedroom did nothing for her equilibrium. It was difficult to concentrate, let alone stop herself from snapping at Alec the next time she saw him. They were not her emotions however. They came from the poor soul lying comatose in the next room, projecting without even knowing it.

Concentrating on the exercises she had been taught before she could walk, Thalia established herself as separate and waited for the tiger to return. She didn't think Alec realised how powerful he was, her leaving the room so precipitously had more to do with the power he had been unconsciously pumping into the room than with his order. So much power.

She had to make him understand, so much more than just Max's life hung in the balance.

A sound had her turning to see Alec return to the lounge and reseat himself in the armchair. As if nothing had happened, he presented her with a bland face and said: "You were saying?"

Startled, Thalia gathered her thoughts. "Right, okay. Where was I? I'm not sure I can make you understand what it was like for us at Manticore. In part, we did not want to believe what some of us were sensing. That we were lied to on a massive scale. That what we believed was true was nothing of the sort. But we were unable to really do anything about it."

"You mean you didn't want to. Sounds like a cushy place to me." Alec interjected with a remarkable lack of heat in his voice.

"No, I mean we couldn't. They had our partners. Our soul mates."

"Your soul mates? You actually believe in that?"

"What. You don't?" Thalia asked right back.

"Not really, no." Alec stated emphatically, ignoring twinges that hinted differently.

"Well, maybe it is the wrong term. The stronger the talent of the psychic, the less mentally stable we are. In the early days there were spectacular disasters, when the children sent in to deal with the trauma of a soldier who had seen his entire infantry mown down by enemy fire, couldn't deal with the sensory memories and lost it. Causing mass suicides in some cases."

Alec blanched, for the first time realising that maybe, just maybe they were all victims, but after the horrors he had been through at the hands of psy-ops it was hard to let go of hard-won convictions.

"So the techs encouraged us to form bonds, unsurprisingly perhaps the strongest bonds were between those who were more emphatic and those that had the more physical talents. The one harbouring and sheltering the other. After that it got better, for a while at least."

"So is your partner here in TC with you?"

"Yes. And he was not happy to let me in here by myself, I can tell you. He's afraid of never seeing me again. We lost a lot of our family in Manticore. Some died in the fires and their partners just sort of faded. When one half is gone, the other rarely lasts very long." Her face took on a bitter sadness. "It's what they used to keep us in line, when we started questioning things. We feel each others pain, so torturing one, tortures the other, without the side effects of being an invalid until the wounds heal. Can go right back to work."

Thalia looked away, to hide the tears threatening to fall. Alec shifted uncomfortably.

"Why did you even start questioning your orders."

Alec was very surprised when Thalia turned and looked him dead in the eye. "Because of you."

"Me?" Alec couldn't believe it.

"Yes, you. All the time we had had to work with the transgenics we were told that you were criminals, evil people who threatened the safety of all that we knew. You were bad, intent on wreaking destruction and it was our duty to form your minds, so that you could be integrated into society." She shrugged. "Or so they said. And we had no reason not to believe them. Then the youngest and strongest of the empaths met you."

"Sally." Alec stated flatly, unsure how he felt about Thalia mentioning the girl, now that he had heard so much.

"Yes, Sally. She was only little and yet she asked the questions we others refused to ask ourselves. After she was done with you, she came back and asked how it was, that if you were so evil and so bad, you had carried the image of Rachel in your heart and mind for so long. Knowing what you had done, knowing you had failed to stop your orders being executed. And yet you carried the memory of the woman you had loved with you, through re-indoctrination, torture and the worst Manticore could throw at you. Sally said that had to make you a good person, because no bad person should be able to love like that."

Alec's head dropped, as the images from so long ago tore through him once more. Although he remembered the facts, he didn't really remember much of what he had felt.

"Sally kept those memories for you." His head whipped up, disbelief written clear across his face. Thalia smiled a gentle smile and for the first time since she had entered the flat, dared to reach out a hand and lay it gently on Alec's. He was only mildly surprised when he let her.

"She kept the memories, hoping one day to give them back. They belong to you. Sally suffered through a lot to retain them. Her and her partner. But we all knew it was right. You can have them back if you want."

Alec only thought for a split second. "Maybe later. Max needs help more than I do my memories."

"I know we can help. We have to help. That's why we came back. We had no intention of staying in the country. Especially after all we had done to you and yours. So we quietly left. But then a few months ago we started feeling it. At first it was nebulous, we could not be sure if it was us or something else. Emotional surges of fear, anger, embarrassment that came and went with no rhyme of reason we could fathom. Tempers ran rather high for a while, until we figured out where it came from. So we started making our way back. As we came nearer, we could tell that one of you was awakening. We snuck in here and tried to find whoever it was." She shrugged once more. "Most of us have been spending a large amount of time shielding the rest of the transgenics. You must have noticed the rise in fights, temper tantrums, people being more emotional than usual."

Alec nodded, there had been signs of heightened emotions, random fights for no real reason but, as nobody had been seriously hurt bar a few scratches up to that point he had been more concerned with Max and had shoved it to the backburner for later consideration.

"Then we finally figured out who it was. Max was the one projecting, off and on, with very little control. And then she supernovaed. It's the only way I can describe what happened. She makes Sally look like a beginner. Her latent abilities must have been very strong. And now something has activated them, maybe the stress from what happened in Command. But she doesn't know how to deal with what is happening to her. You have to let us help her."

Alec was lost in thought, weighing all he had heard with a lifetime's experience at Manticore, centre of lies. Time was running out and he made his choice.

"Okay. I want Sally to do it."

* * *

A/N2: You know I really try to hold out. Some people have a week between chapters, but I just can't do it. Once it is written, I'm compelled to put it on the net. Can't stop myself, except in one instance that I am forcing myself to put up soon. Don't get me wrong, I like reviews as much as anybody else, although I am nervous every time, it's just that sometimes I feel I do not leave enough time between episodes to collect stuff. But then it does keep the story at the top of the list, so more people read it. Ah, never mind. I'm enjoying this, it keeps me out of trouble ;) and hey, couldn't stop if I tried. 


	6. Frayed Threads

Disclaimer: I do not own Dark Angel. Still. Am just going to have to continue writing here.

A/N: Well, here we go, another chapter. This is actually turning out to be fun. Don't get me wrong, I love writing, couldn't stop if I tried. Just sometimes it doesn't feel like mine. I am writing it and go back to proofread and it's like reading somebody else's work. Weird, huh?

_Frayed Threads_

The day had finally come. In preparation for Sally's visit, Dex had come over and pulled all the needles. After attaching the EEG, he began to chart Max's brainwaves and vital signs. Helpless, Alec could only sit and watch, agonizing if he had made the right choice or if this would all end in tears, Max gone forever from his life.

The wait was grating on his nerves, and Max's apparent pallor only served to make him more nervous. Her skin was almost translucent, bones shimmering beneath the surface. Looking at her lying there in his bed, Alec thought that he finally understood what Thalia meant by partnership. His life, his very existence was tied so intricately to hers that loosing her would uproot the entire structure he'd built his life around. He was not sure if even his duty to his fellow transgenic would be enough to hold him.

Dex's voice roused him from his morbid thoughts.

"They're here."

Alec nodded and tiredly pushed himself up from the chair, fighting off a wave of dizziness that threatened to pull him under. In his living room stood Thalia and three other transgenic. She smiled at him, but his attention was on the woman to her right.

Even after all the time that had passed, Alec would have recognised Sally anywhere. She had grown some, but was still cute as a button. The innocent wonder had dimmed from her eyes a little, as it only does when confronted with too many negative things. What really riveted his attention was the man standing behind her. One hand rested on Sally's shoulder, the other hung limply by his side. The man's face was tilted to the side, milky-white eyes focussed into the distance.

Before Alec could ask the question on the tip of his tongue, Sally answered: "This is my partner Macad. Manticore blinded him when I refused to brainwash the president's son." Her hand came up and covered Macad's.

"I'm sorry to hear that." Alec managed.

Thalia smiled once more and took over. "Well, that leaves only my man. Alec meet Dirk." The two men exchanged nods. "We've come up with a plan. Dirk and Macad are going to do their best to shield the flat. I'll be Sally's backup."

Alec only nodded, keenly aware that this was far beyond anything he could do. He could only mutely follow Sally and Thalia to the bedroom that had been the centre of his existence for the last four days.

Reluctantly he watched Sally approach the bed, morbidly pleased when she flinched at first sight, realising how far Max had sunk. Despite Thalia's reassurances he was not completely comfortable with psy-ops getting their hands on Max, no matter how good they acted. 'she cold be making me trust her and I would never know the difference.' Giving up long-standing beliefs was a lot hard than he'd thought; his instincts not responding too well the logic.

While he was still tormenting himself inside regarding the wisdom of his actions, Sally sat down on the bed next to Max and laid her hand on her patient's forehead.

With a strangled cry, she pulled back as if burnt, tears springing to her eyes.

"What? What's happened?" Alec was frantic with worry.

"Sally? Sweetie? What's the matter?" Thalia's soothing voice managed to calm Sally. The girl looked up. "She's in so much pain, Thalia." Again, the tears threatened to fall, but were held back by an iron will and years of Manticore conditioning. "It's all swirling and muddy and there's so much pain."

"Right, so she needs pain meds." Alec jumped at the only thing he had understood. Pain he got; it happened to you, you took the meds and it went away. Didn't need psy-ops to figure that one out.

"Alec!" Thalia stopped him. "It's not that kind of pain." Her eyes shone with sympathy. "Here sit down." She pushed the unresisting man onto a corner of the bed.

Sally shook herself out of her daze and took over. "She's afraid and tearing herself up about something. I didn't quite catch what at first glance." She turned to Thalia. "I need you to anchor me."

"Of course no need to ask." Thalia moved to stand behind her friend and rested her hands on her shoulders.

The empath visibly steeled herself, laid a hand on Max's heart and the other on her head and launched herself in.

* * *

Slowly time passed, the sun moving across the sky to it's zenith, hovering there and then sliding down towards evening. At one point Alec dozed off, several days of intermittent sleep catching him unawares, only to start awake guiltily and find no change whatsoever.

Outside the world carried on regardless. Vaguely he could hear people moving around, bursts of conversation., people coming and going, no doubt asking about Max. Dex had told him that the news of Max's treatment had spread like wildfire. It figured that other people would be almost as worried as he was, but inside the cocoon he had spun around himself and her it was hard to comprehend.

Alec was fidgeting restless, when a movement caught his attention. With eagle eyes he watched Sally sag a bit, one hand rubbing her eyes, the other dropping to her lap. Max took a deep breath, all lines of tension gone from her face, sighed and breathing out went deathly still.

'She's dead. God. Max is dead.' It ran like a mantra through Alec's mind, over and over until he was so frozen he didn't know what to do or think.

"She's not dead, Alec." Thalia rubbed her neck with shaking hands as she spoke. "Look!"

Dreading what he would see, Alec moved closer and stared down at Max. "She's sleeping?" he offered tentatively. When Sally and Thalia nodded, Alec sank in on himself, hands shaking slightly as he stroked a finger over Max's hand.

Thalia explained. "We call it an emphatic shock. I've told you that we could intermittently feel Max for the last couple of months now; well that just means that her shields - that which blocks emotions from others and stops her from projecting her own - were erratic at best. Think of it as a radio and you have no control over the volume, it just rises and falls, sometimes mute and sometimes turned up to ten. Dex told us that the main ingredient in Logan's cure was a synthetic form of adrenaline, used as a carrier. Given to a transgenic it sends the stress levels through the roof. Max never stood a chance, her shields just disintegrated. She was unable to block out anything. It all just swamped her."

"That's why she started screaming." Alec muttered to himself.

"Yes. It had to come out one way another or another. She's definitely an empath; she feels what others feel and with physical contact can see images and to a certain extent depending on the emotional surge- hear thoughts."

Alec's thoughts were going a mile a minute, relieved that at least one mystery had been solved for him. He now knew how Max had known about Zach.

"The emotions coming from outside her and her own got all mixed and jumbled. She locked herself in a self-induced trance in an attempt to get control of herself, but that had the opposite effect. Think of it as a moebius strip of experiences she was unable to break out from on her own. Sally helped her with that, then I showed her how to shield herself and put an artificial one in that will hold until she is conscious. It will stop her from being swamped by all the emotions swirling around in this place. She was getting lost there for a while."

Guiltily, Alec stared up at her. "Did I…"

"Oh no." Sally was quick to reassure him. "Don't even think that for a second.! You've got remarkably good shields. The only thing she picked up from you was worry and a desire to keep her safe. And that's good. It kept her going."

Alec sighed with relief and dragged a hand through his tousled hair. "So why doesn't she wake up?"

Sally gave him a weary smile and said: "Max wasn't asleep the last few days, although it looked like it. Trance has all the hallmarks of REM sleep, but it isn't restful. Her mind was wide awake, fighting her internal demons. Now her body is claiming the rest it desperately needs. Given her shark DNA she should wake up sometime tomorrow."

Alec nodded, his mind too tired to comprehend anything beside the fact that Max was okay and would wake up soon. A shrewd glance at his face preceded Sally's next words. "You should get some rest, too." Gently, as if dealing with a child, her and Thalia coaxed, cajoled and prodded him to remove his shoes and lay down next to Max.

In a move as graceful as it was touching the half-asleep Alec turned onto his side facing Max and enfolded one of her hands in his. His deep sigh of relief was echoed by Max, as she, instinctively moved to face him, until they lay curved together, heads on the same pillow, breaths mingling.

Thalia only paused long enough to draw the comforter over them both and then followed Sally out the room to face, no doubt, an increasingly worried crowd of friends and family.

Oblivious, Max and Alec slept on, content in each other's company.

* * *

Max felt as if she had slept for days, groggy and disoriented, sleep fogging her mind and slowing her thoughts. 'I haven't felt this relaxed in so long. So warm and so soft.'

In the half state between waking and sleeping, Max tried to take stock. Slowly, ever so slowly the memories trickled back towards consciousness.

'Logan was at the meeting. God! Logan! I can't believe he did that to me. And Zach! He sold out Zach!"

Unsuccessfully she tried to stifle the sob rising in her throat. The sound woke Alec. Never in his wildest dreams had he ever thought he would wake with Max cuddled in his arms. At some point in the night he had rolled on his back, taking Max with him. Now she lay, tucked against his side, head resting on his shoulder, one hand interlaced with his lying on his chest, his free arm wrapped around her waist.

As Alec marvelled at how right she felt lying there with him, Max was still trying to come to terms with Logan's betrayal. A rather undignified squeak escaped her when she felt strong arms tighten convulsively around her. Her senses identified them as Alec's even as she was hauled further up his chest, his head buried in the crook of her neck. She vaguely heard him mumbling.

"Max. You're awake. You're finally awake. I was so worried. Don't ever scare me like that again or I swear I'll…" The rest was unintelligible.

Slightly bemused, Max stroked his shoulder. "It's okay. Alec, I'm awake. Really." All of a sudden Max felt herself dropped to the sheets, as Alec back-pedalled away from her. "God, I'm sorry, Max. I didn't mean to be all over you like that. I'll just, umm, go and get Thalia." Max cut off his babbling. "Alec! It's okay. Please stay. Thank you for there for me and keeping me safe."

The look of shocked embarrassment on Alec's face made Max cringe inside. 'Damn. I've been such a bitch. I rant at him and yell and he takes it. He's been watching my back for months and never once have I thanked him.'

"Come, sit down. We have to talk." She patted the comforter next to her.

As soon as Alec was back in touching distance, Max took his hand in hers, absently stroking her thumb over his knuckles. Soothed by the uncharacteristic gesture, Alec relaxed next to Max on the bed.

Despite her intentions, neither of them felt compelled to break the silence between them. Alec was unbearably relieved to have her back, Max - for the first time safe in her mind for a long time - trying to collect her thoughts.

Silence grew, comfortable between the not-quite-friends-anymore transgenic until they drifted back into slumber, curling into each other once again, not even to wake when Thalia and Dirk peeked in on them.

Dirk smiled: "Would you look at that. Two big pussycats sleeping in the sun."

Thalia sent him a playful glare. "Oh, hush. They need the rest." She bit her lip thoughtfully. "You know their shields are probably down. I could just slip in and give them the tiniest nudge. They are so tangled and they would never know I was there."

Dirk pulled her out of the room, blue eyes flashing. "You will do nothing of the sort. They'll sort themselves out. Given time. Which they now have thanks to you and Sally. Leave it at that. Others need your help more."

Thalia sighed. "Logically I know that. But I can't help but wish this was all going much faster. We have such a long road in front of us and we need them desperately. Need them whole. More depends on them than we ever thought."

"It will all be fine. I know it. Nothing will stop those two from finding the truth. But for now we can rest. The calm before the storm."

* * *

A/N2: Okay. I thought this would be a good place to stop. It's not complete, never fear but we will pause here on our way up the mountain, while I gather my thoughts and lay out the next part of our journey. Have a few ideas. Max has to be trained, then there is the whole telling her she is not really the leader thing (may be easy, may be not) and of course Sally still has to give Alec back his missing memory that she has guarded for so long, which will open another can of worms entirely. Also I want to streamline this a bit, because I am still not convinced by the prologue.

Minor point regarding Hope: Yeah, the girl and man thing felt odd when I wrote it, but woman and man sounded off too and girl and boy just rang wrong. May rewrite the thing entirely and a bit longer when I get back to it, which will not be for a while. I have a Buffy thing on hold, a Firefly fic I'm working on and a couple of unfinished things I really have to get down to. So lean back and enjoy the break, or join me in the other 'verses my fantasy kidnaps me to.


End file.
